What better way to start off a new year than making a resolution to better maintain the tires in your fleet?
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Tire prices continue to rise, making replacement, with either new ones or retreads, more costly. Better-maintained tires also mean better fuel mileage, not to mention reducing the chances of roadside emergencies and expensive downtime.
There are many things that can contribute to a tire's well being - or to its demise. This may seem like a daunting task, but the following 10 tips for keeping tires in top shape will pay off in the future.
1. Inflate & Inspect
"Proper tire inflation is the most important factor in prolonging tire life and getting the best performance from tires," says Doug Jones, customer engineering support manager for North America at Michelin. "Tires are optimized to have a certain amount of air in them to carry the load." There is a small window of variance - plus or minus 10 percent - that can affect the performance of a tire as far as ride quality, fuel economy and tread life. A tire that is underinflated for the load it is carrying will develop irregular wear, will run hotter and will fail prematurely. An overinflated tire will produce a harsher ride, experience reduced traction and become more susceptible to damage from road hazards and curbing.
At Harris Trucking, a fleet with about 175 tractors and 475 trailers based in Madison Heights, Va., every time a truck leaves a company terminal it passes through "safety lanes." There, a technician checks inflation pressure, tread depth and wear and tear.
"Monitoring air pressure is vital," says Jim Harris, CEO. "It's like monitoring blood flow from your heart. A flat tire on the road costs you $500. You have to maintain your tires to keep those problems from happening."
To help alleviate some of the drudgery of checking tire pressure, more fleets are purchasing tire inflation and monitoring systems. Inflation monitoring systems can keep a check on tire pressure and alert the driver (some systems can also alert the fleet via telematics - see No. 10). In addition, automatic inflation systems can automatically inflate tires to the proper pressure if they drop below a certain level.
But proper inflation is only part of tire preventive maintenance.
"Proper maintenance must include a workable, reliable tire program that not only assures proper air pressures, but prevents vehicles from leaving the yard with tires that have the potential to result in a road call, such as having nails, cuts, snags or irregular wear conditions that will result in casing loss due to wear reaching the belt package before the tire is removed to be retreaded," says Tim Richards, project manager for line haul commercial tires at Goodyear.
2. Use Good Valve Caps
There is a purpose to valve caps, besides having the ability to become quickly lost. Then again, if you are using the right kind, this is less likely to happen. A proper valve cap means using a metal valve cap, says Greg McDonald, engineering manager for Bridgestone Firestone North America.
"On a commercial tire, the valve cap is considered the primary seal against air loss, with the valve core being secondary," he says. "Personally I am a big supporter of high-quality flow-through valve caps, which greatly speed up air pressure maintenance and do not provide a temptation to ignore checking pressure on inner dual tires."
3. Keep Air Clean & Dry
The quality of the air inside your tires can have a big effect on how much life you get out of them. Tires are developed and designed to run with air - clean, dry air. Every air compressor should have filters and in-line dryers to ensure the air going into the tire is dry. When air that is contaminated with water gets inside the tire, the moisture can break down the inner liner and the steel belts.
An alternative to air is nitrogen. The benefits, according to proponents, is that it does not migrate as quickly as air through rubber, enabling the tire to maintain the desired pressure longer. The problem is, nitrogen can be hard to find and it requires special equipment to fill up tires. So far, most major tire makers say they see very little advantage of using nitrogen over traditional air.
4. Wash Tires & Wheels
Many a truck beauty show contestant has earned or lost points because of the cleanliness of their tires and wheels. But there's a good reason for keeping them clean other than just looks. Snow, ice, slush or other debris that remain on a tire can cause the rubber to deteriorate prematurely. Salt and other chemicals used on roadways to clear them in winter weather can eat away not only at tires, but also at steel or aluminum wheels.
Tires and wheels should be washed using warm soapy water, making sure the inside duals are given as much attention as the outside tires. While it's not a bad idea to use a high-pressure washer on the wheels, Bridgestone advises never washing tires with high pressure or steam units. Avoid using any petroleum-based chemicals or other solvents, because they can harm the rubber.
5. Buy The Right Tires
No matter how well you take care of your tires, if you're not running the right kind for your application, the process becomes far more difficult.
"Selecting top quality tires, fortified with the latest technology, is essential to optimizing tire mileage," says Goodyear's Richards. The old saying, "you get what you pay for," definitely holds true with tires. Major manufacturers, he says, produce tires with materials, reinforcements and tread designs to optimize performance. This includes tire casings that support multiple retreadings, which helps increase a tire's cradle-to-grave value.
In addition, more and more tires are being developed for specific applications, or for specific goals such as longer tread life or better fuel mileage. Work with your tire dealer to determine which is best for your operation.
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